GP14 Open Meeting 9th/10th July

1st clear start on Saturday! 
Bean and Toggle protecting their winning position Mike Fairlamb and Eric Smith show the way in race 2

The sun shone, and despite the high pressure system, the wind filled in for a strong fleet of 21 boats for this weekend’s open meeting.

Sailors were so keen that for each race it was a case of third time lucky, as there were two general recalls, and it was only the round the ends rule that seemed to hold boats back behind the line.

In the first race Phil Smith and Mike Cowan (Bean and Toggle) made it to the windward mark first, and broke away only to be passed later in the race by Dave and Lynn Lawson. However, on the final run before the finish, Dave and Lynn gybed in front of Bean and then had to do a 720 enabling Bean to take the lead which he carefully protected up the final beat.

When the fleet got away on the second race, Bean, and sailing secretary Hugh Godfrey were the only boats over the line which threatened to scupper their chances. However, a split shift up the first beat meant there was some interesting positions at the windward mark – Mike Fairlamb with Eric Smith took the lead, Hugh had managed to pull back to fourth, while Bean was 20th! Visitor Martin Brennan from Hollingworth succeeded in taking the lead and won the race, while Bean managed to pull back to 6th. Consistent sailing by Dave Lawson left him in pole position overnight.

It was to be a beautiful Summer’s evening, with a mirror flat calm. Perhaps the heat was getting to some, but there appeared to be some Arabs and Turkish Delights wandering around the club house during the evening! It could have been something to be worried about with recent events in London, but in this case it was due to Michaela, our social secretary, arranging an Arabian Night.

Sadly, the belly dancing never got off the ground (a belly flop?!) – maybe just as well as there would have been some interesting images to portray!

Sunday morning came (and went) with very little wind, so an early lunch was had by all. When racing set off in the afternoon, it seemed as if the sea breeze was starting to kick in, but as all the boats cleared the line (no general recalls), the wind veered back to the North and left some marks without any wind. Dave and Lynn Lawson took an early lead, and seemed invincible, but that changed on the next main beat and they dropped several places. With the wind fading, and another race to get in, the OD hurriedly shortened the course, but the wind picked up and with the final leg turning into a run, it was to be a testing time for the OD as the leading six boats finished within a couple of boat lengths of each other.

The wind faded again, and swung, then swung back, and as time passed, the OD decided to call it a day. Of course, the sea breeze finally started to take effect – ah well.

So with two first in the bag, Bean and Toggle took the winners trophy, and runners up were Martin Brennan of Hollingworth, then Dave and Lynn Lawson.

GP14 OPEN

PN    Boat  Helm          Crew           Club             1   2   3 Pts
 1   13791  PHIL SMITH    GOLD MIKE COWA BASS             1   6   1   2
 2   13742  MARTIN BRENN  GOLD ALISTAIR  HOLLINGWORTH L   6   1   3   4
 3   13176  DAVE LAWSON   GOLD LYNN LAWS BASS             2   3   5   5
 4   13800  BILL KENYON   GOLD CHRIS BOW BUDWORTH         3   9   4   7
 5   13803  PAUL OWEN     SILVER SUE KON SOUTH STAFFS     4   8   6  10
 6   13885  MIKE FAIRLAM  SILVER ERIC SM BASS             9   2  10  11
 7   13655  JOHN RILEY    SILVER NIGEL L BASS            10   4   7  11
 8   13694  GARETH HUGHE  SILVER DAVID O HOLLINGWORTH L   5   7   8  12
 9   13839  HUGH GODFREY  SILVER RHONWEN BASS             7   5  11  12
10   13874  JOHN TELFORD  GOLD ANDY SMIT BASS            11  11   2  13
11   13115  JULIE WADDIN  SILVER CHRIS W BOLTON           8  10   9  17
12   13259  JOE ROBERTS   BRONZE SALLY R BASS            12  16  13  25
13   13880  MANDY MITCHE  BRONZE JON CLO WINSFORD FLASH  14  12  14  26
14   13402  RANA DIN      BRONZE NEIL TU HOLLINWORTH LA  13  14  18  27
15   13161  STUART SPENC  BRONZE DEBBIE  BASS            15  13  17  28
16   13326  ROY BLACKBUR  BRONZE SUE WAT BASS            18  20  12  30
17   13867  DAVE NICHOLS  BRONZE SARAH N BASS            17  15  16  31
18   13671  ANN PENNY     BRONZE IAN PEN DERWENT         19  17  15  32
19   13013  JONATHAN SED  BRONZE CRISTIN BASS            16  18  19  34
20   13345  MAURICE COOP  BRONZE CLARE P DERWENT         20  19  20  39
21   13181  DAVID HOLMES  BRONZE BRIAN H DERWENT         21 RTD  21  42

                                        Points for RTD = 22  22  22
                                        Points for DSQ = 22  22  22
                                        Points for DNS = 22

 2 races to count

Overall Winners Bean and Toggle Winners of the silver fleet - Paul Owen and Sue K from South Staffs Bronze fleet winners - Joe and Sally Roberts

 

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